This invention is in the field of control valves for area conditioning systems in which heated or cooled fluid is provided for maintaining a desired temperature in a heat controlled area.
More specifically, one embodiment of the invention is directed to a unique valving and control system for providing cooled or heated fluid to a room, plural rooms or similar areas, while another embodiment is directed to means for providing heated or cooled fluid in regulated amounts to an industrial process tank or the like. The term "fluid" as used throughout the specification and claims is used in its broadest sense and should be understood to include gaseous as well as liquid substances.
This invention enables a sustained conservation of energy through fuel savings by maintaining an even temperature in the controlled area while using boilers and chillers of the intermittent type employing conventional controls. These are standard for oil and gas fired energy sources. Moreover, the subject invention can be incorporated in present installations with a minimum of expense and disruption. Further advantages are enabled by the instant invention in that it eliminates the need for wall thermostats while remaining completely automatic in operation.
Other cost advantages of the invention are enabled by virtue of the fact that it can be fabricated with standard machinery and is easy to assemble and has a small number of parts with respect to the related valves. The foregoing factors also enable substantial savings in maintenance costs with additional savings accruing by virtue of the fact that the valving components can be inspected or replaced in an installation without disturbing the piping of the system.
The present invention represents an improvement over the inventions of my prior Patents being numbered U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,125,292, 3,385,520 and 3,498,536. A large swing in radiator temperature (20.degree. F) is almost universal in this country and in Europe and the above related patents have a small range of modulating temperature about 4.degree. F so that they are restricted to radiators of uniform temperature. A primary advantage of the inventive valve is a large range of rotational modulation (85.degree. F and more) which is more than sufficient for all radiator temperatures and most industrial needs.
And again, the above related patents are restricted to three-pipe heating and cooling systems, whereas the inventive valve can be used with three-pipe or four-pipe systems which makes it more suitable for applications of more than one area, and this is because of a novel dual heating and cooling systems changeover which operates simultaneously for supply fluids and spent fluids.
And yet again, a most important innovation incorporated within the inventive valve is that the size of the modulating port is adjustable over a wide range after installation.
Therefore, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved temperature responsive automatically operable valve means.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved operational technique of both new and existing heating and cooling systems for achieving optimum efficiency.
And another object of the invention is to have means to adjust the size of the flow modulating port of the valve after the valve has been assembled and installed.
Yet another object of the invention is to incorporate within the confines of the valve a simultaneous and dual temperature responsive heating and cooling systems changeover for the fluids supplied to the valve and for the spent fluids returning to the valve.
Another object of the invention is to have a range of fluid modulation that is sufficient to modulate the temperature changes of non-uniform radiators of all heating and cooling systems of the general practice on America and Europe.
And yet another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved highly reliable air conditioning and heating control valve means and systems that are economical and and are interchangeable with prior known heating and air conditioning systems.
Yet another object of the invention is the provision of new and improved valve means providing modulating work fluid flow control both during heating and cooling modes of operation in response to changes in temperature of spent work fluid employed in heat exchangers in the area being heated or cooled.
Yet another object of the invention is the provision of new and improved valve employing tamper proof construction for use in public buildings and the like.
Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a heating and cooling system which eliminates the need for wall thermostats and other previously known control elements so as to provide a new and improved simplified system.
Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved control valve that will fit within the piping schemes of the general practice of heating and cooling systems.
And another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved automatic control valve in which all of the valving component parts are inserted into the valve body after the valve body has been installed into the system to protect them and also that they may be removed for inspection and for replacement during the life time of the system.
And yet another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved control valve which can be conveniently reset for a change in the temperature of the area being heated or cooled.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved automatic control valve in which the conservation of energy has been duly practiced in the building of the valve, in the operation of the valve and in the operation of the systems in which the valve is used.
Achievement of the foregoing objects is enabled by the present invention through the provision of a control valve comprising a hollow cylindrical valve body member in which a compound sleeve separates the interior of the body member into an infeed flow chamber and a return flow chamber, both chambers having an inlet pipe connection and two outlet pipe connections.
The compound sleeve is slaved to a heat responsive transducer in the infeed flow chamber and is thereby rotated accordingly to the supply fluid temperature and is fitted with corresponding heating fluid and cooling fluid ports around its periphery (a pair in each chamber) to provide the open-close, close-open relationship of the ports with respect to the two outlet pipes in each chamber; directing heating fluid to the heating radiator and spent heating fluid to the boiler while the system remains in the heating mode, and directing cooling fluid to the cooling radiator and spent cooling fluid to the chiller while the system is in the cooling mode; and, providing the simultaneous dual switchover of the heating mode to the cooling mode and vice-versa.
A circular nested valve sleeve having a port through its wall is slaved to heat responsive transducer in the return fluid chamber and is nested within the compound valve sleeve and has a rotational relationship with respect to the edges of the upper port of the compound valve sleeve such that it quantitatively meters the spent heating fluid which has in turn flowed from the heating radiator into the inlet pipe of the return flow chamber, over and around the transducer, through the nested valve sleeve port and the compound valve sleeve port assembly and thence into the outlet pipe and to the boiler. The cooled spent fluid goes through a likewise series of systematic actions.
The circular nested valve sleeve is adjustable in a rotational manner and with respect the compound valve sleeve to select the temperature of the spent fluid at which the area is to be heated or cooled.
The circular nested valve sleeve is also adjustable with respect to the peripheral edge of the upper compound valve sleeve port so that the area of its port is progressively made smaller to give a selection of full open fluid flow values.
It is practicable to use parts and parcels of heating and cooling systems which are not necessarily matched, without the energy conservation qualities of the inventive valve being negated, as the valve physically and operationally couples the boiler with the heating radiator and the chiller with the cooling radiator and uses only the amount of the energy of the fluid that is necessary to satisfy the needs of the area or the process.
It is practicable to provide shelf items, such as sleeve-transducer and tube-transducer assemblies with graduated characteristics, so as to modify any given inventive valve installation in a matter of minutes.
It is practicable to manufacture the inventive valve in outlet pipe sizes from 1/2 to 12 inches.
A better understanding of the present invention will be achieved when the following written description is considered in conjunction with the hereinafter described appended drawings.